It is well known that most purchasers start their online purchase process with a query of a search engine. New research from GroupM and comScore reveals that 48% of consumers who started with a search engine search for products and subsequently purchased, are taking a social activity as a next step in the buying process. Their findings also reveal that when consumers are exposed to both search and social media by a brand, that overall search click-through rate went up by 94%. This clearly demonstrates that search and social media are powerful channels individually, but in combination they create huge opportunities for companies to gain the edge on their competitors.
The Path
What is not in doubt in this pathway is a consumer's starting point. In nearly 60% of all consumer online journeys that end in purchase, the starting point is a search. Survey respondents say the top reasons they use search first are: the quality and scale of information, the fact that they always use it, and because search is easy to use. By contrast, the key motivation for consumers who use social media to conduct preliminary information gathering is the referral authority exercised by respondents' "friends." While a less popular first step than search, social media clearly remains important in the process.
Overall, consumers are equally likely today to use a combination of search and social media in their path to purchase as opposed to just search. 48% of those who convert utilize both search and social media versus 51% that use search alone. This actually indicates a higher conversion rate for those customers that included search and social media in their buying process. This is representative of the growth of social media. It is important to note that while early social media is built on human connections, this research suggests that those connections now directly tie to the financial aspirations of businesses and thus have become more important within the context of supporting customer loyalty. Also of note is that only 1% of consumers who convert will use social media without search to get to the purchase point. This data suggests social media is not yet a stand-alone conduit for the consumer's decision-making process.
Search and the Late Kick
The report also shows that in the last 30 days of that period, consumer search behavior intensifies for a time during which brands can derive distinct signals and valuable insights on consumer behaviour. The first of these signs is the dramatic increase in overall query volume. Similarly, there seems to be a strong shift away from competitor site visits and to an advertiser's brand site during the last 30 days prior to purchase. Using site-side data analysis, marketers should be able to detect a pattern of interest being formed in their brands, versus competitive sites.
Beyond query trending and site engagement, there is a common pattern of engagement that takes place (during the final) two weeks prior to purchase. The reappearance of both search and social media highlights the value of each channel in the purchase decision. Within the final two weeks prior to conversion, visits to competitor sites are still taking place. This indicates that a purchase decision has not yet been definitively reached and the fate for a brand remains in doubt. And as it pertains to the role of search (identified as a starting point for many, but also a vital tool throughout), the final pre-purchase touch point is also search. Regardless of any attribution modeling applied, it is clear that this late-stage engagement results from previous research and signals the importance of search in the final selection of product and brand.
Social Media and a Desire for Loyalty
If search is essential for the pricing component of a buying decision, then social media is its interlinked companion in the selection process. As consumers go through their buying process, they go from discovery to validation, and social media provides the opportunity for them to do this. The industry trend for the past six months has been a growing relationship between a user's social graph (web of social connections) and their ability to reference it for making choices. While this trend is important for advertisers, social media plays an increasingly complex role in the purchase path. When consumers were asked how search and social media are useful to them, respondents report social media helps in two key areas: awareness of new brands and products, and elimination of brands from consideration. All of this serves as a reminder that presence and engagement are a necessary part of the marketing mix and that merely "listening" is simply not a good enough option when so many consumers now see social as part of the decision making process.
That said, the leading companies of the social ecosystem, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, appear to have a minimal role in the purchase pathway at present. Less than 1% of all converters engage with either brand-controlled social media from these properties or promoted/sponsored social ads in the 90 days prior to purchase. This is not to suggest that this form of social media does not have its place or potential as either a reach vehicle or engagement driver, but rather to acknowledge that in comparison, 16% of purchasers engage with category blogs. This signifies that earned social media provides a greater impact on the consumer's final purchase decision in today's social landscape. Brands with fan bases that are highly engaged may be better positioned to leverage these channel-leading properties, but there is a clear trend developing around explicit versus implicit intent that shows less favor for implicit buying.
Among the more surprising findings of the study are the types of social networks consumers use to find information. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are synonymous with the definition of social media. However, when it comes to aiding the purchase decision, the top-performing option for consumers is user reviews (30%), while social networking, such as Facebook (17%), video sharing( such as YouTube) (14%) and Twitter (9%) all reported to bring less value to consumers.
The research also shows that the greatest motivator for social media engagement is to gather the opinions of others. This is especially true for higher-cost products. But brands should not simply think of social media as a passive tool as there are active decision-making processes occurring in the social space. A consistent finding throughout the study is that consumers are having brand perceptions shaped and altered through social engagement. Brands fall into and out of favor as a result of the insights consumers are gaining from social media. In a case where the brand is not a category leader, the effect is more pronounced, and social media's influence plays a more substantive role than search in influencing brand perception.
With nearly half of consumers who start the purchase process online using a combination of search and social media to fuel their purchase decision, you can really not afford to be present. Contrary to the popular definition of social media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) you really need to be present on user/product review sites and category blogs. By integrating these two elements of social media into your marketing mix, you can increase you lead generation initiatives and conversion rates.
